Following the recent judgment by the appeal court on the dissolution of the local government administration in Oyo State. I write to demand efficient and effective service delivery at the grassroots.
Having observed the service delivery of the local government under the care of the Caretaker committee during the trial at the court of appeal, it seems those council boss constituted by Governor Seyi Makinde were unable to exercise fully the responsibility to effectively delivered the service expected from them as the Caretaker Chairman by the people who are at the grassroots, the people at the grassroots haven’t enjoyed the dividends of the government, as they are still under the abject of lamentation.
As we know that the government exists primarily to provide services that will make life worth living for citizens. And Local government as the third tiers of government is expected to create an appropriate and conducive environment for the people at the local level through efficient and effective service delivery. And also expected to play significant roles in providing social services for the people to improve their standard of living.
It is obvious that over six months now that the local government caretaker committee has been put in place, their impact is so far is limited, especially concerning improving service delivery and transformation of lives of people at the rural level which one of the ways of bringing government closer to the people at the grassroots is through the delivery of service in a satisfactory, timely, effective and adequate manner.
Oyo state governments must endeavour to overcome this challenges of ineffective services delivery at the grassroots, that have circumvented their performance over the last one year, by empowering and allow the local government Caretaker Committee to efficiently and effectively makes provisions of basic amenities and social infrastructures needed for the people at the grassroots.
While Oyo state government needs to note that, the effectiveness and efficiency of service delivery are appraised based on how successful the services are carried out by the local government through its workforce, so for local government services delivery to be effective, it needs to be underpinned by autonomy and independence in its political, administrative and social responsibilities by the state government.
Adesina Julius writes from the Igbeti, Oke Ogun area of Oyo state.
